


Best Smile

by Oneshot_bravo



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Gremlin pretends it can write, Leo-centric - Freeform, but the pull of the sad clown trope dragged me in, i apologize in advance if everyone’s horribly ooc, ngl i’ve never watched any of the episodes, yes i know the title sucks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:28:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25518808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oneshot_bravo/pseuds/Oneshot_bravo
Summary: Ralph was the strongest. Donnie was the smartest. Mikey was the most creative. Leo had the best smile.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 103





	Best Smile

Despite his laziness and his devil may cry attitude, Leo liked being organized. He even had a daily schedule. Or at least a mental one.

Apparently, today his mental secretary found it prudent to move his daily existential breakdown from two in the morning to right here right now in the middle of a fight. At this point, who needs enemies when you’ve already got yourself?

Wow. That’s the fiftieth ‘one-liners-that-can-never-be-said-out-loud’ this week. It probably said something about the relationship he had with his family that he had to censor at least sixty percent of his jokes. If he used them, he’d be at the end of a metaphorical  _ and _ physical punchline.

Huh. One liner number fifty one. Oh well, that one didn’t really make sense anyway.

Leo knew that he was spiraling, watching as his brothers continued ahead and he should be helping, not that he was that much helpful in the first place. He was an annoyance at best and a liability at worst. What did he even contribute?

Morale? Mikey was literally sunshine personified. Hell, he could draw a sun on the sewer walls that was warmer than the real thing.

Wit? Donnie’s mind and tongue were sharper than Leo’s odachi, much less his brain.

Protection? Please, as if Leo could get anywhere close to Raph. The guy was practically a walking bunker.

Leo continued looking blankly ahead, his odachi limp in his hand. Donnie was pouring continuous damage from the air, Raph was landing hard hits whenever he could, and Mikey was flitting around the big baddie, making sure that the enemy didn't start getting too focused on the other two.

They didn’t need him. This was a fact that he was extremely familiar with, to the point that it had stopped being painful or even numbing a long while ago. At this point, it was kinda comforting in a twisted sort of way. Maybe it was like exposure therapy or something? Donnie would probably know.

He should do something. Anything. At least pretend to be useful so the others won’t complain about him not pulling his weight.

He forced himself forward as he gripped his odachi. A smirk slid onto his face with the practiced ease of a well worn glove. Probably has something to do with muscle memory or whatever. Donnie would probably know.

Leo hopped high with his sword above his head. “Mind if I CUT in?” He quipped, emphasizing the word “cut” by slashing down his blade. Had he already made this joke before? Whatever, the others probably don’t care anyways.

Speaking of the others, he looked up to see each of them wearing their own brand of annoyance. Raph with his furrowed brows that screamed ‘What took you so long?!’, Mikey with his clenched jaw that he always wore when he was interrupted while he was drawing, and Donnie with his flat unimpressed deadpan that said ‘Really?’

And he could see himself in their eyes.

A simple stance that oozed with overconfidence, with an obnoxiously smug smirk that neatly drew eyes away from reading into any thoughts and emotions he’d rather deal with later, or if possible, never.

And as he smoothly stepped to the side and out of their view, Leo had an epiphany.

Raph was stronger, Donnie was smarter, and Mikey was more creative. But they didn’t have his smile.

Unless they were genuine, each of their smiles had it’s cracks. Either they clenched their teeth too tight, or the rest of their body language didn’t match, or their eyebrows ended up giving away how they really felt, or a million other little giveaways.

But Leo? His smile was picture perfect, tucking away anything that didn’t have to be noticed, with just enough extra emotion to fill in any glaring holes. After all, omission is usually the hardest thing to notice.

Is this what Mikey feels like when his baking comes out just right? Or when Raph broke his previous record with his weights? Is this how Donnie feels when his tech works just as planned?

Is this how it feels like to actually be good at something?

Leo smirk grew a little wider with  ~~ bitter ~~ sweet pride.


End file.
